Motorboat rescued by RNLI

[AllanG]

Motor yacht rescued by RNLI in 11-hour operation Exmouth RNLI rescues motor yacht in 11-hour operation

Hope no-one from this forum was involved

 

[Steruth1]

It was moored up yesterday in the harbour and the chap was washing it down so all looked ok, looked like a fairly new predator so no idea how the fire suppression system activated . It was pretty rolly out so glad they were ok.

 

[oldgit]

Without being too judgemental and looking at where they were and who was onboard .. The skipper ever heard of weather forecasts ?.................
" three children " who were suffering seasickness.

 

[Portofino]

Maybe a kid sat with dad on the helm kicked the toggle ? ….you know bumpy sea and the mother was moaning stressing dad out . It would be difficult for none helming to stand up so the other 4 wound seated somewhere.

Never been a great fan of those seafire systems wherby some electrotwackery in theory could stop the motors .

When I had my sun squeaker the pin was often left in the canister and yes the toggle switch was knee height waiting to be booted or bashed into .If it was at the top of the dash say adjacent to the compass then it can’t get accidentally bashed in a big sea .

Much prefer a manual system with zero extra electrotwackery interlocked into the engines in a un bash able dash location .

 

[Scubadoo]

Not familiar with the fire system, can't you override the fire suppression system once established no fire etc to get the engines running again?

 

[petem]

Maybe a kid sat with dad on the helm kicked the toggle ? ….you know bumpy sea and the mother was moaning stressing dad out . It would be difficult for none helming to stand up so the other 4 wound seated somewhere.

Never been a great fan of those seafire systems wherby some electrotwackery in theory could stop the motors .

When I had my sun squeaker the pin was often left in the canister and yes the toggle switch was knee height waiting to be booted or bashed into .If it was at the top of the dash say adjacent to the compass then it can’t get accidentally bashed in a big sea .

Much prefer a manual system with zero extra electrotwackery interlocked into the engines in a un bash able dash location .

The switch on the helm will only ever override the system once the extinguisher has been fired. It will never stop the engines.

To active the engine shut down you need a closed circuit on one of the extinguisher sensors. Pulling the wire out will allow the engines to re-start.

Or locating the SeaFire control box and disconnecting the wires to the engine stop solenoid solenoids would also allow the engines to be re-started.

The RNLI would have been better off calling SeaStart or a boat mechanic to get the thing running again (easy for me to say I know).

 

[petem]

Not familiar with the fire system, can't you override the fire suppression system once established no fire etc to get the engines running again?

Yes you can, there's a switch on the helm.

 

[Bouba]

Interestingly, we are all arguing over what to do…the skipper would probably be equally confused with the added concern of a frightened family and a violently pitching craft

 

[Scubadoo]

Interestingly, we are all arguing over what to do…the skipper would probably be equally confused with the added concern of a frightened family and a violently pitching craft

If all it takes is throwing a switch to get the engines going again, maybe the the skipper should be more firmilar with their boat systems before going out in conditions as described by the RNLI. However, I appreciate it might not be as simple as that and maybe a system fault had prevented the engines from restarting.

 

[volvopaul]

The switch on the helm will only ever override the system once the extinguisher has been fired. It will never stop the engines.

To active the engine shut down you need a closed circuit on one of the extinguisher sensors. Pulling the wire out will allow the engines to re-start.

Or locating the SeaFire control box and disconnecting the wires to the engine stop solenoid solenoids would also allow the engines to be re-started.

The RNLI would have been better off calling SeaStart or a boat mechanic to get the thing running again (easy for me to say I know).

It will stop the engines if the plug comes out the bottle valve

 

[DavidJ]

I wonder if “triggered” means the extinguisher actually activated. In that case the contents would be drawn into the engine and severely block it

 

[madabouttheboat]

I wonder if “triggered” means the extinguisher actually activated. In that case the contents would be drawn into the engine and severely block it

Modern gas one may stop the engine but should not block anything. Dry powder might block the air filter, but a change on the hoof should get it going again.

 

[petem]

It will stop the engines if the plug comes out the bottle valve

I stand corrected but in that case joining the two wires together (in the event that there's an issue with the override switch) will allow the engines to be re-started.

Easy to say sitting on dry land I know.

 

[petem]

I wonder if “triggered” means the extinguisher actually activated. In that case the contents would be drawn into the engine and severely block it

A modern boat will be fitted with a clean extinguishant. I know this from having an engine room extinguisher fully discharge a few feet away from me.

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

A modern boat will be fitted with a clean extinguishant. I know this from having an engine room extinguisher fully discharge a few feet away from me.

Yes, but you can change it on any boat. I suggest to everyone to switch to FM200 in there engine room, resolves a big issue, and nowadays the price is fairly competitive.

I just switched mine this year. I would be surprised if a quite new Predator 50 2018-20 would not have an FM-200 system.

 

[oldgit]

OG firmly believes that you might work out how to switch on and off most of the fairly important bits on your boat after about a year and begin to discover , more by accident than design , then how most of the rest works...........shortly before you sell it.
Took me ages to discover that two weeny little switches at the helm muted the engine alarms.

 

[Bouba]

When something happens on a boat you need your dispassionate logical head on....unfortunately when faced with a serious situation we go into panic mode....something that might have easily occurred to the skipper while anchored in a quiet bay may be the last thing on his mind. So I think we need to be less judgmental...we were told in the very beginning the cause...he wasn’t....and in a modern fifty foot boat there are numerous systems and components....

 

[wonkywinch]

Expect a "For Sale" ad shortly

Glad it turned out OK.

 

[Bouba]

Expect a "For Sale" ad shortly

Glad it turned out OK.

Wife forces sale

 

[ylop]

Without being too judgemental and looking at where they were and who was onboard .. The skipper ever heard of weather forecasts ?.................
" three children " who were suffering seasickness.

Children could be anything from a baby to 17. Sea sickness could be anything from clinging to the gunwales piling your guts up to feeling a bit green. Where they ill before the engine stopped or just when rolling around powerless? Did the anxiety of being “stranded at sea” increase the sickness? Did mentioning it help the CG make up their mind on what help to organise? Did including it in the press release help the RNLI seem more like rescue than tow service…

I stand corrected but in that case joining the two wires together (in the event that there's an issue with the override switch) will allow the engines to be re-started.

Easy to say sitting on dry land I know.

RNLI crew are well meaning but not necessarily mechanically adept and don’t know every boats little quirks. What they should have done to avoid such a long slow tow back was post on here - they’d have been told how to fix a problem that may or may not be the one that was experienced.

When something happens on a boat you need your dispassionate logical head on....unfortunately when faced with a serious situation we go into panic mode....something that might have easily occurred to the skipper while anchored in a quiet bay may be the last thing on his mind. So I think we need to be less judgmental...we were told in the very beginning the cause...he wasn’t....and in a modern fifty foot boat there are numerous systems and components....

Yes and the RNLI crew didn’t see the problem either (I know someone who once called them out, expecting a lengthy tow - to be told… “see that red springy cord around your leg… could you plug the other end into the controls!”) nor did the CG’s (or RNLI shore crew / DLA who are often wise crusty old boaters) - I’ve heard Belfast CG talk through some basic engine checks for someone and get them going.